Jessie Ryan Penn-Hite spent 292 days on remand after threatening his mate with a knife

The slow-moving wheels of justice kept a young man on remand for almost twice the length of his sentence after he breached his bail by threatening the victim over the phone.

Jessie Ryan Penn-Hite was jailed for threatening a mate with a knife. Source: Getty

Jessie Ryan Penn-Hite started crying when he was told he would be released from remand.

The 21-year-old Toowoomba man spent 292 days on remand in the Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre after breaching his bail.

It was almost a year ago on August 6, 2024, that he kicked his mate’s wrist, held a knife to her face and said, “I’ll shank you brah” before walking away.

The victim made a complaint to the police and they arrested Penn-Hite, charging him with assault occasioning bodily harm and threatening violence.

While those offences were serious, it was what he did after leaving the police station that saw him serve such a long period on remand.

Toowoomba Magistrates Court heard Penn-Hite then phoned his victim within minutes of his release on bail and threatened her.

Added to this, Penn-Hite was only a few months into serving a four-year suspended jail sentence handed down by Toowoomba District Court.

When Magistrate Mark Howden questioned Penn-Hite’s lawyer about why it had taken so long to resolve the matter, Hamish Chapman said it was the result of a variety of factors.

“The matter was to proceed by way of a hearing on my client’s instructions, we received a brief, reviewed it, that subsequently changed to be case conferencing,” he said.

“Then we need to seek a lengthy plea sentencing.”

The court heard Penn-Hite’s lawyer twice applied for bail.

“The bail was not granted due to the unacceptable risk of (my client committing) further offences,” he said.

Mr Chapman added that the assault occasioning bodily harm charge was “paper thin” as the victim had only suffered soft tissue bruising.

Sentencing was further complicated by the fact that Penn-Hite had breached a District Court suspended jail term and would have to be re-sentenced, risking even more time in custody.

Mr Howden said he had recently sentenced offenders to shorter periods in jail for much more serious offending.

He sentenced Penn-Hite to six months in jail and released him on immediate parole, leaving a balance of about 110 days in pre-sentence custody for the District Court to address.